A ray of light hit his cheek causing him to stir in his sleep. With all four of his limbs sprawled out the young man on the mattress seemed to be in a world of his own. The small ray traveled up his face settling onto his closed eyelids, bringing with it a whole portal of light. Dongwan frowned, cracking an eye open and sat up. He glared at the window, peeved at how any light could manage to get through the crust of dust. Rolling his neck a few times he felt a sore muscle in his left shoulder. It didn't feel nice nor did the feeling of his tousled hair stabbing his face feel good.

It was a late morning, could be around nine or more and his two comrades were long awake. He smiled to himself as he heard some noise coming from the kitchen- the pair was never still when together. 

He surveyed the room, noticing his suit from yesterday neatly hung up. Hyesung must have done that. That man hated mess as much as he and Junjin didn’t care about it. It was a real mystery why he still let him sleep on the same mattress with him usual calling him creep with a dirty mind.

Dongwan rolled out of the bed, cool air hitting his skin making goosebumps appear all over. He could feel a cough rising, managing to suppress it before it escaped. He couldn't afford getting sick now- they were in debt already, spending their scarce money on him were out of question. 

With a lingering look at the wardrobe Dongwan clenched his teeth and broke into a sprint, throwing its door open and grabbing the first shirt he saw. After throwing it on in tandem of pulling up his old jeans, he searched for the socks he had discarded somewhere yesterday. To his great distress those were gone.

‘Hyesung-ee, they were clean!’ Dongwan hollered as he dug through his underwear-slash-sock drawer. He had his great doubts that a matching pair was somewhere around. Hyesung always lost one of them justifying it by saying that the missing sock never even made it to the washing machine. He could swear that he was either deliberately hiding them or eating them. Without much success in harmonizing his wardrobe, Dongwan settled on a striped and a white mismatched pair of socks and walked out into the kitchen m. Hyesung and Junjin were seated at the table engaged in a discussion.

‘Ya, buy some more socks for yourself’ was the first thing out of Hyesung’s mouth. To expect ignorance had been too much of a hope. Greeting both Hyesung and Junjin Dongwan sat down, looking at today’s breakfast offer with a sour expression.

‘Why don’t you make some real breakfast for a change?’

‘Why don’t you bring some real money for a change?’ Hyesung waved him off in return shoving a cup of noodles towards him.

‘No eggs?’

‘We ran out’

Dongwan let out a deep breath, taking the cup he was offered. It was either this or going hungry for the rest of the day so he accepted it. There were no chopsticks, the closest pair sitting on the counter at the sink mocking him with its closeness. Hyesung glanced at him in disapproval when he started balancing on the chair’s back legs trying to reach the eating utensils without having to stand up. He returned to his own meal with an audible snort when Dongwan managed to reach the chopsticks, grinning at his small victory.

‘If you fall and knock out your teeth no one’s going to pay for that’

‘Then I remain toothless’ Dongwan answered, digging into his food before it got cold. The noodles had started turning soggy and tasted bland the flavor a familiar mix of chemicals and spice. He realized how quiet it was in the room when he heard his own chewing.

He glanced at Junjin who hadn’t said a word. Had he even answered his greeting? The guy had quite the character usually. Usually it would be difficult to shut him up. He was facing away, long strands falling over his eyes shielding him from the rest of the world like a protective wall built of pretense security. Dongwan slurped some more of the soup glancing over from Junjin to Hyesung. That guy always seemed to be comfortable in silence. They must have talked about something before he arrived.

‘Your hair’s getting long’ Dongwan said before he had thought it through. Hyesung sputtered, coughing when some of the food went down the wrong pipe.

‘Really now? That’s what you come up with?’

Junjin kept eating as if they were not even in the same room as him. So something really was wrong.

‘Hey’ Dongwan leaned closer ‘how comes that the first thing I get in the morning is the silent treatment? Are you angry? Because whatever you think I did is not my fault and don't listen to Hyesung. He with his conspiracies and secrets is making my life hard. You’re better than that Jinny, don’t make hyung’s life hard’

‘There’s no conspiracies’ Junjin looked him straight in the eyes before putting his chopsticks down and turning to observe the wall instead. Hyesung sent Dongwan a glare indicating that he'd just committed something worse than a ritual murder of a puppy which only meant that if he didn't try to patch this up his life would get a hella lot harder.

'Don’t be upset, Jinny. Whatever I did- it's totally my fault’ he scooted closer, starting to draw soothing circles on the taller's back. 

'What a pathetic idiot' Hyesung commented as he stood up and collected the paper cups from the table. Dongwan wanted to protest that he wasn't finished with his food but then again the other was probably well aware of that. ‘You're too stupid to get into an accident anyway' Hyesung continued 'you probably drive like a deer on a bicycle. No need to worry about him, Jinny’ he chuckled and went over to the trashcan to discard the cups.

‘Deer don’t ride bicycles, hyung and Dongwan’s not an idiot, just careless’ Junjin spoke up, surprising the other with his cold tone. Hyesung opened his mouth as if to say something but then decided otherwise, pointing at the trashcan instead.

‘I told you to bring it out days ago. Go do it now’ 

If Dongwan had hoped for a peaceful resolution this was not it. This wasn’t about the trash, it never was. It was about getting them both alone so Hyesung could grill Dongwan for everything he had ever done wrong in his life. He would get scolded the moment their youngest closed the door. Not that he didn’t deserve some but he hadn't heard much praise for how well he’d been managing either. 

‘I’ll do it’ he volunteered, the proposal shot down immediately.

‘Jinny has to do it’

Dongwan sighed looking at Hyesung standing there with his arms crossed over his chest tapping his leg against the cracked linoleum floor like some kind of a metronome of his life and for the shortest moment he wondered if there was a way to escape this hell. Junjin moved unwillingly, taking as much time to get up as it would require for Dongwan to run to the first floor and back. Probably twice if he put actual effort into it. Crossing the space with large, lazy steps Junjin took the black plastic bag with two fingers, scrunching up his nose in disgust.

‘Hyungs, don’t fight’ he added when he left.

‘Ok, what did I do wrong? Come on, what did I ever do wrong to him?' Dongwan shot the moment the door closed, trying to gain a headstart for his only survival. If he were to wait Hyesung would beat him to it.

‘What do you mean what did you do wrong, dickface? Junjiin’s upset because of you’

Protectively framing his face with both hands, Dongwan wondered where did that insult come from. His face did not look like a . ‘I know he’s upset’ he mumbled as he looked at the back of the spoon he had just fished out of a nearby teacup ‘but what’s the reason? I haven’t done anything to him. I just woke up, it’s seriously too early'

Hyesung remained at the counter watching the other abusing the spoon as his mirror, disapproval written all over his face.

‘How about you came back kind of late yesterday without telling Junjin where you went? Because- you know how well he handles these things. You should have written to him, Dongwan, lie if you couldn't think of anything. Could have thought of anything but no instead you chose this. He kept asking me where you were so I told him that you were working as a chauffeur. He put two and two together. He knows you were drinking and drove afterwards and now he's depressed. As if you didn't know how-’

'But it’s not really my fault?’

Dongwan put his elbows on the table, resting his chin on his palms. Hyesung hated it when he interrupted him but now when he knew what was wrong he could relax. So it was just the driving they were worried about. And the drinking. But he could handle as much.

Hyesung narrowed his eyes in a warning which Dongwan found cute rather than intimidating. Everything about Hyesung's face was small. Being angry did not suit him well. Taking him seriously was a challenge though Dongwan tried. Dear God did he try.

‘How is it not your fault?’ Hyesung pouted, his voice immediately losing the angry touch it had. Dongwan grinned, satisfied with the success of his offensive tactic. All their fights started serious but they never lasted.

‘You're the one who failed in explaining where I was. Could have said anything, really. You should have lied if you couldn't think of anything better but you chose to tell him the truth’

He waited for an answer but there was none. Hyesung was still too easy to confuse, looking like he was having a hard time comprehending his own mistake let alone thinking of anything witty to reply. With a distressed grunt he grabbed one of the apples standing on the counter and threw it at Dongwan. The moment he resorted to violence the fight was lost. 

‘Your aiming ’  Dongwan caught the apple with ease, taking a big bite out of the sour fruit. Hyesung rolled his eyes before turning and starting to hunt for a new plastic bag to put in their trash can. This was the scene Junjin came back to surprised that nothing was broken or damaged.

‘What’s happened to you two?’ he took off his shoes before entering the kitchen ‘have my hyungs been abducted and replaced by people I don’t know? Not even a broken cup?’

Hyesung snorted in response. ‘We’re short on cups?’

Dongwan couldn't suppress a smile at that. Shocked by the answer Junjin stood there, his loud laughter following soon after ringing clear through the small apartment and lifting the otherwise sour mood. Dongwan let out a complimentary chuckle, silently thanking their younger for handling this situation so well. Without him they would probably end up killing each other. They had a tendency to squabble over the smallest thing, sometimes turning those into full-out wars. There were times when their arguments ended in flying plates and bowls and the occasionally broken chair.

‘Thank you for worrying about me’ he patted Junjin’s back when he sat beside him ‘and I promise I won’t do anything stupid like that again’

Junjin nodded as he gave Dongwan a long, tight hug clinging to him like a person afraid of letting go. ‘That’s impossibe, hyung, both of you are idiots with your stupid promises’ 

When he was released from the death grip they both turned to look at Hyesung standing at the sink, looking around as if he was not involved with them in any way. He seemed out of place there, painfully obvious to Dongwan that he didn’t agree with any of this. To say that Hyesung had difficulties expressing his feelings was a understatement. Instead of telling them his worries he would either yell or avoid the topic altogether, that being his favourite response to everything.

‘I’m sorry Syungie’ Dongwan got up and walked over to him, offering him a reconciling hug. It turned into a bit of a battle with Hyesung trying to fight Dongwan off and Dongwan insisting on his basic human rights to hug him until they both settled on a somewhat neutral embrace, both apologising for causing distress to Junjin and each other.

‘Do you know that I had to take the trash out two times in row?’ Junjin interrupted their moment, feeling confused when they looked at him in dissatisfaction.

tbc

A/N: They didn’t do anything but eat breakfast here *clap clap clap* This is bullcrap.

Anyway, I just wanted to say a big THANK YOU for the nice words I've received. Can I love you now? Because I will.